


What your Lady won't see

by BrightestSun



Series: Au Yea August [12]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/M, Historical, Romance, Royalty, in love with the help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 12:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15662928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrightestSun/pseuds/BrightestSun
Summary: Nathaniel and Chloé are to marry, for the sake of their country, their status and no one really cares about the fact that they hate one another.What's worse is that Nathaniel has talked about his frustrations enough to maybe develop feelings for Chloé's handmaiden.AU Yea August day 12 - Royalty





	What your Lady won't see

Chloé scoffed, examining the beautiful necklace between her fingers, her mouth a thin line and her piercing eyes brimming with distaste. Sabrina stood next to her mistress, worried that this would end beyond badly.

 

“They are blue sapphires from the depth of Africa.” Nathaniel put on a brave smile, trying to pierce through Chloé’s tough exterior. “I saw them and was reminded of your beautiful eyes.” His honeyed words did little to melt away the girl’s tough exterior.

 

“I only wear purples and yellows right now. They suit me better.” She said matter of factly, extending the extremely expensive piece of jewelry to her handmaiden who gasped, having to throw herself forward to catch it as the blonde let it slide out of her hand mercilessly.

 

The orange haired handmaiden sighed in relief as she made sure the necklace was unharmed. She knew the two nobles were wealthy, but it was still ludicrous to her to think that neither of them seemed to care much about the safety of the necklace.

 

“Chloé please, I know a thing or two about accessorizing, the piece will really help bring some complex depth into your darker outfits.” Nathan explained.

 

Sabrina couldn’t help but look over the young man’s outfit. He wore a tight black jacket with a crimson scarf to make the color pop. Deeper and darker red hues played in symmetrical patterns across the jacket. He wore thin gloves in the same matted red hue as on his jacket.

A bright silver chain link hung from his pocket, attached to his belt, attached to a pocket watch Sabrina assumed. On his legs, matted red vertical stripes we carried down over black pants, almost merging with black boots with red tongues.

 

His long red hair draped over his face making him look positively gothic. Sabrina wondered how Chloé could so easily disregard the handsome mans advice and advances.

 

Chloé and Nathaniel’s conversation had devolved into the usual back and forth, barely contained anger flew from both of them as Nathaniel grit his teeth “I don’t know why I even bother with you!”

 

Chloé practically snarled back “maybe you shouldn’t! Go die somewhere, save me the trouble of having to poison you later!”

 

“Poison me?! Please, you don’t have the guts! You’re all bark and no bite!”

 

Sabrina stood there like a statue caught at the center of a battlefield. She feared any moment now that the cavalry would charge and she’d be crushed between the two opposing forces. She dared not speak up, it wasn’t her place, and even if it was, she wouldn’t want to try reasoning with the hotheaded nobles.

 

Chloé’s eyes narrowed to slits, staring with shaking anger at him before storming off. Nathaniel ran a hand through his hair, sighing deeply, letting the anger slowly disappear from his chest. He sat down at the table, looking over at her with a soft smile.

 

Sabrina swallowed, quickly bowing to him before dashing out to retrieve tea and biscuits for him. His visit had devolved so quickly that she hadn’t even had time to offer him anything.

 

She slowly poured the tea for him “I’m… sorry about Chloé, she really does mean well.” She placed the necklace in front of the red headed man, next to his tea.

 

He chuckled softly “no need to apologize. I’ve come to expect this from her.” His fingers played along his lip contemplatively, “Honestly it feels nice, her loathing this arrangement as much as I do.”

 

Sabrina nodded slowly, taking care of Chloé’s needs wasn’t always an easy job, but for a servant girl she had a good amount of money and she got to live in an amazing estate. She got a piece of noble life, but wasn’t forced to marry anyone for wealth or status. She pondered if maybe she had it as well as anyone, if she’d threaded the needle between the security of money and the relative freedom of peasantry.

 

Nathaniel ran his finger along the rim of the cup, deep in thought. “Do you like the necklace?” he asked without looking at her.

 

Sabrina nodded “it’s brilliant, it looks like little moons caught on a string of stars! Chloé will love it once she calms down, she’s just not keen on accepting your gifts right now.” She smiled assuringly to him.

 

He nodded slowly “I like the way you describe things, you have the soul of a poet. I so love the arts but I struggle to put words to it.”

 

Sabrina blushed “you flatter me sir, I just say whatever comes to mind, it’s nothing special” she shrank.

 

He chuckled again “that’s what poetry is I’m told. Mine tends to be overly dreary and uninspired however. I much prefer painting the beauty around me, but I’ll admit I sometimes dream I could create images of pure beauty and expression out of nothingness. All I capture is an imitation of life, the greats they saw through the drivel of the everyday and captured something beyond. But how such skills elude me…”

 

Sabrina hid her mouth as she let out a soft laugh “for someone who claims no skills with words, you sure seem a master at putting thoughts to your lack of mastery.”

 

Nathaniel laughed loudly “Perhaps I’ve fallen too in love with the Gothic’s; my thoughts begin to carry a self indulgent pity.” He sighed with a smile on his lip.

 

“I envy you, that you can spend your time reading and painting” Sabrina admitted, immediately regretting her words, she’d gotten vastly too forward with the man who was from a completely different world.

 

He nodded slowly “I suppose I forget my luck… Tell me, can you read and write?”

 

Sabrina nodded “well enough, but I imagine not half as well as you.”

 

He smiled retrieving something from his inner pocket, it was a small booklet, newly printed pages sown together. He handed it to her, but she didn’t reach out to take it.

 

“What’s this?” she asked carefully, knowing that she was blurring some lines between the two which should not be blurred, it wasn’t the first time, and every time she thought to herself afterwards that she was becoming to friendly with the beautiful artist.

 

“A story, or the beginning of one anyway. A friend asked my opinion on it. I like it, I feel the need to read the rest, but I find it hard to find the words to describe to him what I felt when reading it. I thought perhaps you could read it, tell me your thoughts, I would like to sound smart when meeting him next.” He shot her a sly smile. She could tell that this was his new way of giving her a gift, as last time she had refused quite adamantly. By making it a favor to him, he absolved her of much of the guilt of taking it from him.

 

She hesitantly took the booklet, looking over the front page. “The modern Prometheus” she read, regretting having read aloud as the difficult third word required her to take a few tries. She blushed, hiding her face from the extremely well read man. “What’s it about?”

 

“I’m sure you could easier tell me than I could tell you. It’s about a doctor whose pursuit of knowledge goes too far, the rest I’ll let you discover for yourself.” He stirred his tea, taking a small sip before adding more sugar. “The author might end up being one of the greats, if she can keep writing like this.”

 

Sabrina’s mouth opened slightly “she?” she blinked, he must have misspoken.

 

Nathaniel laughed “yes, she. Mary Shelly, she’s proving to be beyond competent as an author. Her mother Mary Wollstonecraft was quite the creator as well, I may not have noticed your wit had I not read her book. She opened my eyes to the guile and wit of women, she argued that you should be educated and respected just as men are.”

 

Sabrina scoffed at the idea “and this girl grew up with a mother like that?” she chuckled, only scarcely able to imagine the kind of lunar ideas someone could have with such a role model.

 

Nathaniel sighed, a sad expression creeping onto his face “the two didn’t know one another I’m afraid, they only existed together for scarcely ten days…”

 

“Oh… I’m sorry…” Sabrina was reminded of her own mother, whose face she didn’t even know.

 

“So you’ll read it?” he asked hopefully, clearly already sure of the answer.

 

Sabrina sighed “of course, I’d be happy to help you seem smart in front of your friends” she shot him a teasing smile which he returned with gleeful beaming.

 

“You know, I think Chloé’s right, deep blue doesn’t go that well with her style.” Nathaniel stood, holding the necklace out in front of him with a thoughtful expression. “No. Blue like this is much better with orange colors.” He smiled knowingly at her.

 

Sabrina’s eyes went wide “You cannot! Just because Chloé refused it!”

 

Nathaniel shrugged “What if when I saw it, the first thing I thought was how nice it would look draped around your neck?”

 

Sabrina gasped “you… you knew she wouldn’t accept it.”

 

He nodded “Please, I want you to have it”

 

She shook her head “it’s much too expensive!”

 

“It’s a rock and some metal. If you do not take it, it’s going to lie unused somewhere. This beautiful piece is art, and art has no value if we don’t see it.” He held the jewel up in front of Sabrina “but if we are able to notice the beauty behind something, discover how much more is there than we first thought, that’s when something becomes art.”

 

Sabrina felt her heart beating faster, she felt petrified by his sensitive yet piercing eyes. He moved towards he, standing so close that she could almost feel his warmth. She didn’t stop him as he laid the cold artpiece around her neck, closing it behind her.

 

The string around her neck felt heavy and cool against her skin, it was pleasant and terrifying. Nathaniel’s hands slid down to her shoulders, he looked at her with his deep gazing eyes, so close to hers.

 

“We… can’t… You have to marry Chloé…” Sabrina whispered, everything in her telling her she was wrong, to surrender to her feelings.

 

Nathaniel looked at her with sad, longing eyes “I have to marry Chloé… and I’m… I’m sorry about that. But I promise. I’ll only ever love you”

 

Love, the word that broke the last pieces of her façade. The word that tore down her resistances and made her realize that it didn’t matter that this was a bad idea, she couldn’t keep herself from living just because it wasn’t perfect.

 

She held him close, pressing her lips against his. Marking their forbidden union with a beautiful kiss, then another.

 


End file.
